The proposed research will attempt to empirically study a temperamental trait, inexpressiveness, which seems to be common among many males in American society. Inexpressive males are defined as males who are inept at expressing emotions such as gentleness, tenderness, and verbal affection. It is the contention of this researcher that such inexpressiveness is dysfunctional to the role relationships which the inexpressive male becomes involved in, especially with members of his family. As the family has changed, companionship has emerged as the most valued aspect of marriage. What we may have in America today is an example of a discontinuity in cultural conditions, where the American male is taught that to be masculine is to be inexpressive, while at the same time, expectations in the marital role are defined in terms of sharing affection and companionship which involves the ability to communicate and express feelings. Building upon the theoretical ideas summarized above, I propose to study the inexpressive male through the following three stages of research development: (1) Developing a measurement scale capable of measuring male inexpressiveness. This stage will be devoted mainly to the validating process of comparing the inexpressive male scale scores of 50 males with data obtained through indepth interviews of these subjects and their close friends; (2) Investigating and identifying factors which contribute to the creation of the inexpressive male. This will be accomplished by comparing the interview responses of 100 highly expressive males with the responses of 100 highly inexpressive males on a variety of familial and demographic background factors. (3) Identifying the effect of male inexpressiveness upon family role relationships. This will be accomplished by obtaining a sample of 600 married men who will be interviewed along with each individual member of their families of procreation.